NBA’s Chris Bosh Gets Legal Slam Dunk, Then Plays Team Ball

NBA star Chris Bosh has always been known for his scoring, but following a recent legal victory he spearheaded, many may soon credit him with an assist.

Bosh, a popular, 25-year-old power forward who plays for the Toronto Raptors (seen here with Raptors coach Jay Triano), recently won an intellectual property dispute over a website name, allowing him to own the site chrisbosh.com and opening the door for hundreds of other athletes to take control of their own sites.

The issue started when Bosh, wondering why someone else had the rights to chrisbosh.com before him, decided to challenge a “cybersquatter,” or a person who attempts to profit from someone else’s trademark via Internet. Before this got resolved, Bosh used chris-bosh.com.

In this particular case, Bosh alleged that Luis Zavala was wrongfully using his name — and the names of about 800 other athletes and celebrities — as web domain names. The biggest celebrity included in the cybersquat was Britney Spears. The sports figures ranged from college basketball players to NBA All-Stars like Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire and Orlando’s Rashard Lewis. There were also several sites under the names of players from the University of Notre Dame and University of North Carolina basketball teams, including Tyler Hansbrough. To scroll the entire list, click here.

Because domain names can help generate visibility, there can be a great deal of money attached to using someone else’s name for a domain name, Bosh’s attorney, Brian Heidelberger, said. “We’d guess that [Zavala] made a pretty significant amount,” said Heidelberger of Winston & Strawn.

The Law Blog could not immediately reach Zavala for comment.

Bosh and his law firm, doubting Zavala would pay the $120,000 awarded by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper for the violation of Bosh’s rights under the Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, instead asked for the rights to the 800 domain names Zavala previously had been using.

Heidelberger said his client wasn’t necessarily angry — just interested in getting his name back. “That was the main thing he wanted,” he said. “And when he knew there was an opportunity to help out all these other people, too, he decided to push for that.”

Bosh’s legal team argued that Zavala was able to garner so many domain names because he kept tabs on highly touted players from a young age, hoping they’d blossom to the point where there’d be demand for a personal website. Indeed, Zavala had several websites that took on the names of high-school basketball players.

Before the incident went to court, Bosh’s lawyers reached out to Zavala, asking him to relinquish the site holding Bosh’s name. He declined. “I have no intentions of handing over my domain. I am not in the business of giving domains away,” he wrote, according to court documents.

Bosh’s lawyer says the Raptors’ star has no intention of holding onto any of them except his own. “He’s not trying to make any money here. He just wants to give these players their names back,” says Heidelberger, adding that agents for between 10 and 20 athletes have already contacted him about getting their domain names back.

Bosh is one of the more well known athletes when it comes to his online personality. His Twitter account is among the most popular in the NBA, with nearly 74,000 followers. He also has his own YouTube channel with more than 100 videos.

About Law Blog

The Law Blog covers the legal arena’s hot cases, emerging trends and big personalities. It’s brought to you by lead writer Jacob Gershman with contributions from across The Wall Street Journal’s staff. Jacob comes here after more than half a decade covering the bare-knuckle politics of New York State. His inside-the-room reporting left him steeped in legal and regulatory issues that continue to grab headlines.

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